


clean slate

by AureliaAstralis



Category: SKAM Austin
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-11 09:31:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18427811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AureliaAstralis/pseuds/AureliaAstralis
Summary: THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2019, 12:42 PM“Because I know you don’t care – not really.” Grace gave a little shrug, then looked him in the eye. "It's like you said. I'm nobody."THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2019, 06:54 PM“You’re not nobody,” he said quietly, and she felt herself reluctantly come to a stop. “You’re anything but that.”





	1. clean slate

**Author's Note:**

> this week has been dry as the fucking sahara desert, and i _had_ to write something or my brain would explode from the anticipation. ~~have a feeling that there won't be a clip until friday so~~ this is my version of the confrontation scene. also apologies if the language bothers anyone, but seriously feel like grace wouldn't be the type to care about swear words.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Because I know you don’t care – not really.” Grace gave a little shrug, then looked him in the eye. "It's like you said. I'm nobody." 
> 
> _(Thursday, April 11, 2019, 12:42 PM. Grace is done.)_

**THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2019  
12:42 PM**

* * *

It was quiet when Grace folded herself into the window seat next to the back stairwell. Kelsey was off at a Kittens meeting, Zoya cramming for a Chem test in the library, and Jo had dragged Megan off to Chipotle for lunch – for once, it was just her. 

She sighed as she took a bite out her leftover quesadillas from last night, wishing that she could just grab a warm plate of spaghetti from the cafeteria. Unfortunately, going to the cafeteria meant the increased probability of running into Daniel, who she very much did not want to see. Congealed cheese and soggy tortillas it was. 

_“Who was that?”_

_“Nobody.”_

“What an asshole,” she muttered. Grace had spent the week deleting increasingly infuriating texts to the point where she was ready to just block his number. He had the gall to act like he gave a shit, after what he said – she took a violent bite of her lunch, chewing angrily to shove down the hurt she told herself didn’t exist. 

This was supposed to be her clean slate. Before Bouldin, she had been just like Kelsey - naive and impressionable and too fucking oblivious to see beyond her own daydreams. She was supposed to be better, be more aware. She wasn’t supposed to fall for the same thing all over again. 

Meeting Clay had brought back bad memories, and she left the Williamson house feeling like she'd just had a close encounter with a shark. The fake wokeness, the casually toxic masculinity, the condescension dripping from everything he said - everything from their two-minute interaction reminded her uncomfortably of her ex. The familiar feelings of fear and shame and guilt still lingered on the bad days, and although he had seemed harmless enough, she made a note to avoid Clay completely. In all honesty, with someone like him as an older brother, it was no wonder that Daniel turned out to be an asshole too. 

 _He’s not though_. He listened to what she said, read her writing, and apologized for what he did to Kelsey – he admitted he was wrong and  _apologized_ , and it had caught her so off guard that she couldn't even come up with a reply. He brought her to see the bats, he made her hot chocolate, he left her alone after their date - even when she secretly wished he hadn’t. He had looked at her like he wanted her for more than a quick fuck or an easy lay – when they laid in his bed together that morning, he looked at her like he cared about her.

For all that she had painted him as a villain, Grace wanted to be wrong – she wanted him to prove her wrong. _If only._ She leaned back against the brick wall, staring out the window as she thought back to what Kelsey had said yesterday, about auctioning off dates with the football guys. It had come like a slap to the face, salt on an already raw wound, and it made her regret ever letting him slip past the carefully constructed walls around her heart. 

“So this is where you’ve been hiding.” 

She jumped, nearly dropping her quesadilla, and Daniel grinned at her from the bottom of the stairs. He bounded up the steps two at a time, and even from a distance she could smell his cologne, familiar in a way that she didn’t want to think about.  

She rolled her eyes, fury and irritation festering in her chest when he leaned against the window sill oh so casually, acting like nothing was wrong. “What do you want, Donald?” 

“Really? We’re back to name-calling?” he joked. She kept her expression flat. “You’ve been ignoring my texts.”

“Take a hint.” She raised an eyebrow.

“I would, but I can’t stop thinking about you.” Grace wished that she could say her heart didn’t speed up a little at the confession. “Also, you look really pretty today.”

 _And there it is._ She wasn’t even mad anymore – she just wanted to be done with it.

 “... Wow. You’re actually trying to feed me that bullshit again.” She laughed a little, shaking her head as she stuffed the remains of her lunch in her backpack. “You can stop with this whole charade, y'know? I’m not interested in being part of whatever game you’re playing.”

His expression was the perfect picture of confusion, and she had to give it to him – he was an excellent actor. “What are you – ” 

She didn’t bother letting him finish and shoved past him, hurrying down the stairs and tossing her bag over her shoulder. 

“Grace, just – can you stop for a second, Jesus – ” Daniel slid past her, blocking her way through the hallway door. “What are you talking about? What game?” 

“God, you really can’t let it go, can you?” Her voice cracked a little on the last word, and she hated it but it was already too late to stop. She was so fucking tired of walking on eggshells, of the lies and all the hiding. She just wanted to go back to being invisible, writing for the paper and not having to watch her what she said around her friends. “You’ve got every girl in this school literally willing to pay for a chance to be with you. You don’t have to keep acting like you give a shit about me, so _please_ just leave me alone.”

He stared at her, disbelief written on every feature. “What... where is this coming from?” The furrow in his brow grew deeper as he spoke, and the bewilderment in his voice seemed almost genuine. “I thought... after last weekend – ” 

“Last weekend was a mistake,” she said, cutting him off, and saying it out loud made her realize just how true it was. The singing, the pillow fight, the almost-kiss - Grace wanted to wipe the memories away, bury them and forget. “It never should have happened.” 

He didn't say anything at first, just looked at her with a mix of disappointment and frustration and hurt. After a beat, he finally managed, “How can you say that?” 

_Because you’d hurt me. Because you’d make me fall in love with you and break me, just like he did._

She swallowed, trying to think of a reply when the warning bell for the end of lunch rang. The first students started to appear at the end of the hallway, eyes zeroing in on them curiously, and she took a deliberate step back as shifted her bag up her shoulder. The words slipped out quietly, low so only he could hear them, and she let the hurt seep into her words just this once.

“Because I know you don’t care – not really.” Grace gave a little shrug, then looked him in the eye. "It's like you said. I'm nobody." 

He looked stunned, realization filling his expression, but she didn’t wait for his reply as she swept past him into the crowd of students starting to flood the hall. She turned her phone off, and firmly pushed all thoughts of Daniel out of mind.


	2. anything but

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re not nobody,” he said quietly, and she felt herself reluctantly come to a stop. “You’re anything but that.”
> 
> _(Thursday, April 11, 2019, 6:54 PM. Grace gets an apology.)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWO CLIPS. first clip gave me life, second clip had going me wtf. y'all go from tears to literal eyefucking across the room, excuse me what???? anyways. part two of thursday since i still have a lot of feelings about this.

**THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2019**  
**6:54 PM CT**

* * *

Grace cursed herself for leaving her bag in her locker, hurrying down the corridors to the front of the school. She had managed to get Zoya to end practice a little earlier, but she was only just approaching the gym again, which she had to pass by to get to the front of the school. Grace had hoped that the extra few minutes would be enough for her to grab her things and slip away before she inevitably ran into Daniel, but that possibility was looking less and less likely. 

It was just her luck that it was weight training day for the soccer team. She had made it a point to ignore him all practice, despite how hard it was with Jo and Megan giggling over whether PenJo or Daniel’s biceps were better. What had made things even worse was how she could feel his gaze following her, through warm ups, through the routines, through the stretches afterwards. Grace wished she had chosen something less tight to wear - his gaze had made her feel self conscious and exposed, particularly when Zoya had them practice body rolls for ten minutes because Jo couldn’t nail it down. 

Dancing had always been her outlet, but now she didn’t even have that without remembering how his eyes had been literally burning into her for the past two hours.

Grace winced when she heard familiar laughter ahead of her as she rounded the corner. Her stomach dropped when she saw Daniel with PenJo and Hunter, obviously just done with practice, chuckling about something quietly. 

PenJo was the one to notice her before she could backtrack, raising an eyebrow in her direction before nudging Daniel. She dimly registered Hunter and PenJo murmuring their goodbyes before walking off, focusing more on trying to keep her expression impassive with Daniel standing there, just looking at her.

He had the kind of stare that was unnerving. Whenever he looked at her, it felt as if he was searching for something; like she were the only person in the world in that moment.

Grace looked away, shaking her head - those were the kinds of thoughts that got her into this mess in the first place. She fixed her gaze on a spot behind his ear and squared her shoulders, walking forwards fully intending on ignoring him. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he still affected her. 

“Grace.”

 _Almost there_. She walked past him.  _Don’t look._

“You’re not nobody,” he said quietly, and she felt herself reluctantly come to a stop. “You’re anything but that.”

She scoffed before she could stop herself. “Right.”

“Grace.” Daniel stepped in front of her, standing close enough for her to feel the warmth emanating from his body, and she looked up at him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it.”

She crossed her arms. “Then why did you?”

He looked uncomfortable, fidgeting with the strap of his backpack for a second – as if he was trying to sort out his thoughts. “My brother and I… we don’t really have a good relationship. He likes messing with people to get reactions out of them. Me especially.”

Grace frowned, unconvinced. “… huh.”

“… he finds it funny to fuck with the people I care about – like you.” Daniel sighed, brows furrowed in frustration, and she realized that he looked vulnerable for the first time since they’d met. “I made it sound like you didn’t matter because I knew he’d say something to make you hate me more than you already do.”

_I don’t hate you._

“I just… I didn’t want him to ruin things before I even had a real chance with you.” He swallowed. “I know it’s a shitty excuse, but it’s the truth.”

The anger in her chest slowly deflated. “I don’t hate you.” Grace said softly.

“Good to know.” His reply was just as quiet. He watched her for a moment, then said, “I really am sorry.”

“I know.” She offered him a placid shrug. “It’s still a shitty excuse. But thank you – for apologizing.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Right.” Suddenly aware that she was standing inches away from him in little more than a skimpy top and sweats, she took a quick step back, feeling a flush rise on her cheeks. “Um, I’m… gonna head out, then. Megan’s probably wondering where I am.”

“Wait.” Before she could make her escape, he caught her arm, pulling her back. “We’re throwing a party tomorrow night. Will you come?”

Any other time she would have replied with a snarky comment about spoiled rich kids. But right now –

“Sorry.” She pulled her arm out of his grasp. “It’s not really my scene, and I have other plans.”

“Other plans?”

“Eve needs help collecting donations for the immigration charity she volunteers at.” Grace deliberately omitted the reasons for Eve’s sudden altruism, but she was secretly happy for the excuse. She didn’t want to be there to see some girl fawning over Daniel for that auction. “I told her I’d help.”

He looked disappointed. “Right.”

“Yeah.” Grace gave him a close-lipped smile. “Bye.”

She didn’t wait for his response to turn around and start walking again, but heard him call after her.

“If you change your mind… let me know.”

She waved back at him. “I won’t, but thanks.”

* * *

 **Daniel Williamson  
** **Today 7:33 PM**

 

 

 

> if I donate 15% of the money to your  
>  cousin’s charity, will you come to the  
>  party tomorrow?
> 
> you’re seriously trying to bribe me  
>  with donation money?
> 
> no thanks 
> 
> 20
> 
> please come.
> 
> i don’t drink.
> 
> i’ll make you hot chocolate
> 
> 25
> 
>  at this rate you’re not going to have  
>  any money left to pay back penjo’s dad
> 
> it would be worth it.
> 
> 30 
> 
> i literally have no reason to go
> 
> i’m not participating in the auction
> 
> neither am i. we can hangout
> 
> is that a yes?
> 
> 30?
> 
> I’m a man of my word
> 
> alright 
> 
> great
> 
> can't wait 


End file.
